Earth-like planet within our solar system: Japanese study

'We predict the existence of an Earth-like planet and several trans-Neptunian objects on peculiar orbits in the outer solar system,' a research team wrote in their paper.

Researchers from Japan have found possible evidence that there exists an Earth-like planet within our solar system. 

“It's possible that a body of a primordial planet can survive in the far Kuiper Belt as a KBP, as so many bodies existed early in the solar system,” said Patryk Sofia Lykawka of Kindai University in Osaka and Takashi Ito of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan in Tokyo, in their study that was published in the Astronomical Journal.

The Kuiper Belt, which is situated just past Neptune’s orbit and circles the Sun like anything else in our solar system is home to interstellar objects such as dwarf planets, asteroids, carbon masses and icy volatile elements like methane and ammonia.

"We predict the existence of an Earth-like planet and several trans-Neptunian objects on peculiar orbits in the outer solar system which can serve as observationally testable signatures of the putative planet's perturbations," the team wrote in their paper.

According to the researchers, the new planet could be 1.5-3 times the size of Earth and suggested that the planet could be between 200 and 500 astronomical units away from the Sun.

They also noted how their suggested planet differs from the previously predicted ‘Planet Nine’, which is supposed to be far more massive and placed in an orbit that is farther away.

"In conclusion, the results of the Kuiper Belt planet scenario support the existence of a yet-undiscovered planet in the far outer Solar System," the researchers said.

Finding planets similar to Earth is an essential part of astronomy and the possibility that they may have conditions that are favourable for supporting life provides important insights into the potential for habitable habitats outside of our own planet.